"This is an unfortunate outcome," said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at University of Texas at Dallas. "We just have to sit back and understand the context a bit."

Piquero says officers make split-second decisions based on the information they have at the time.

"They don’t have time. They can't say, 'Hold on, I'll be back in 20 minutes and we’ll figure this out.' They cant do that," the criminologist said. "That’s not to give them a free pass, but that’s just to say that’s not an easy job. And they're trying to protect a bunch of people, not just their own lives."

The SWAT officer who shot Cody Seals remains on leave while the incident is investigated. The officer is a 10-year veteran of the department.